Service-cover for milk-bottles, jars, &amp;c.



B, HEROE,

SERVICE COVER FOP. Mimi BOTTLES JARS, im.

APPLIGATIOE Fil-E3) OUT. 23, 913.

Patent-gd Mai. 23, 1915.

, fully appear from BIANCHE SMITH PIERCE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MCHIGAN.

SERVICE-COVER FOR MILK-BOTTLES, JARS, @acA Application filed October 23,

To rlZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, BLANoiin Slirrii Pinnen, a citizen of the UnitedStates ot America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent andState of l\lichigan, haye invented a new and useful Improvement inService-Covers for Milk-Bottles, Jars, &c., of Which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in covers for bottles, jars, etc.,and more particularly to special coversto close the ori fiees of suolivessels while in service after the regulation cover, cap or sealprovided for closing same has been removed.

The objects of my invention are to provide a device for the purposewhich is simple, durable, ellicient, easily cleaned and sterilized, easyand cheap to manufacture,

and capable of being applied or removed by hand Without the use of anytool.. These and other objects of my invention ivill more the followingdescrip- Y tion.

'suitable material, as, kInercial sheet aluminum or tin, having an Myinvention consists essentially of the various novel eatiires ofconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully describedand particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings illustrating a device embodying in v invention andthe best mode contemplated b) me l'or applying` my invention inpractice.

A cover constructed in accordai'ice with in v invention consists ot' asingle piece of for example, com

\v itli the orilice ot' annular Hat portion for contactinglf annular topsuriace adlioining,r the ythe vessel; an annular stillfeiiing` rim atthe exterior of the fiat annular contactingr portion; and twodiainetrically opposite clamp ing portions in the forni ot lugs or ears,depending from the edge of the annular still'- ening rim, toelastic-ally engage the exterior side surfaces adjacent the orilice ofthe ves-- sel and thus hold the cover in place against light accidentalforces tending to dislodge it. Preferably, to further assist in main1taining' the flatness of the annular contacting` portion, the cenralportion, within the fiat annular contacting portion, is offset fromthe plane of the flat contacting p0rtion.

The` material from which the cover is made is preferably somewhatelastic or springy and the clamping lugs are preferl Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 1,915.

1913. Serial N0, 796,760.

ably so shaped as to conform approximately to the exterior form of thesiifles of the oriA lice olf the vessel ad'ji'icent its iop. 'lhisconstruction renders it easy to apply the cover to or remove it from theoril'ice ol the vessel by hand, without any tool, and it also providesfor automatically adapting the cover to such variances in the externalform and diameters of the oriliees et' the vessels of a standard typeand size as is commonly met with in the commercial production of sucharticles.

A cover made .in accordance with my invention is not designed to be usedas a leak proof closure to the orifice of the vessel, as is theregulation rover. cap or seal pro vided for that purpose 'for certainbottles, jars, etc., but it is designed to be used as a service cover`for the orilice of' the vessel so as to protect its contents from dust,insects, etc., al'ter the regulationcover. mp or Seal has been removedand its replacement is not desired, For ,fniple, the ,seal generallyused for bottles ir. Ywhich niilli and cream are delivered to il' of a,sott eaidlgioa'rl disk of rather heavy and which lits snugly in asuitable internal the seal out oi' its recess, vvitli the result thatthe seal is generally so injured in Yiis nioval as to render itinadiipiate or at least undesirable for further service, and such a sealis generally discardiil upon its first removal from the bottle, lvllienthe regiilation seal has been removed `from such ay bottle the contentsof the bottle are availm able for service as needs nn require from timeto time, and the bottle may then be said to be in service. lt isdurirgor the period ivliile the bottle is thus in service and itscontents being dra un upon as desired that iny special cover is put inservice on the bottle to protect its icifiiainimgr contents-- hence lhave appropriately designated it a serv ice cover.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a top View ofone form of my improved cover; Fig. 2 is a side view of the upperportion of a common milk bottle having my improved cover, partly insection, thereon; Fig. 3 is a vea-ti cal central section on line A--B ofFig, 52; Fig. Ll is a central cross-section of my iniproved covershowing the central portion 6. annular rim 2 as much as may benecesportion 1.

depressed instead of raised, as is shown in the other figures; Figs. 5and 6 are side views, partly in section, of a form of my improved cover,showing an additional ear forming a limit stop and facilitating theengagement and disengagement of the cover from the vessel; Figs. 7 and 8are side'views of my improved cover as applied to a jar or commontumbler.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

Of the parts: 1 is the flat annular portion which contacts with theannular top surface adjoining lthe orifice of the vessel; 2 vis theannular rim formed integrally with and exterior to part 1 to stii'ensame; 3 is:

the pair of oppositely disposed lugs, depending from and formed'integrally with part 2, which by their clamping action hold the coverin place over the or1fice;,4is an additional lug or ear employed in oneform of my device, depending from the rim 2, as shown in Figs. 5, 6,7and 8,*which facilitates the engagement and disengagement of the coverfrom the vessel; 5v is the central raised or depressed portion withinpart 1, and 6 isA the annular offset formed integrally with and joining'parts 1 and 5 and serves toA aid in maintaining the iatness of part 1against its accidental deformation.

Sanitary considerations require that the cover be of such form in its,several parts as to avoid the formation of recesses or cornersdiiiicult of access for thorough cleaning. To satisfy that requirementin my improved cover the annular stiiiening rim 2 and the offset 6 arepreferably not formed abruptly, but as shown in the sectionalportions ofFigs. 2 and 6.

The annular curved rim 2 is not designed to make contact with the bottleor jar, but serves simply to stillen the fiat contacting ably standsaway from the bottle a small amount as shown at 7 in the sectionalportion of Fig. 2. This provision insures that the flat contactingportion 1 may be made wide enough to adapt one size of the coversuccessfully to the top of bottles ofa standard type and size byallowing for the variances commonly met with in their commercialproduction. Additional stifening of the cross-section of the cover mayevidently be provided by forming annular corrugations in parts l and, 5,but as such corrugatlons would make the cleaning of the coverv moredifficult I prefer to avoid their employ- 'ment and instead thereof toincrease the amount of the oii'set 6 and the depth of the sary toprovide any desired degree of stiffness'of the cross-section.

-By making the form of lugs approxi- The rim 2, therefore, prefer-y in aplane practically parallel to its flat surfaces and in a direction atright angles to a line through the middle lof the lugs 3. When used witha jar having a top similar to that shown in Figs. 7 and 8, my improvedcover may be applied Aor removed mthe manner above described Aor byvertical movements as may be referred-by the user.

The ,lug 4 facilitates the placing of the cover on the bottle byaffording agood surface against which tocpress when forcing the clampinglugs 3 into proper engagement with the sides of the vessel, and it alsofacilitates the engagement by forming a stop which prevents forcing thecover too far over when applying it. The disengage-f ment of the coveris facilitatedby the lug 4 which affords a hold for the tips of thefingers or nails when withdrawing the cover from the bottle. J

Variations in the forms of the elements of my invention, from thosespecifically shown and described above, may be made without departingfrom the essentials of those elements or of the invention as a whole,and I would include as within the scope of my invention such availablevariations in the form of' its elements as may be found desirable inadapting it to its various possibilities of service.

I declare the above to be so full and clear a specification of myinvention as to enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use the same.

`What I claim as my invention is:

1. A service cover for a bottle, jar or other vessel, comprising, in asingle piece of suitable thin and flexible sheet metal, an annularvessel-top-contacting portion, a pair of oppositely disposed securinglugs depending ,from the outer edge of the vesseltop-contacting portion,and a third lug also depending from the outer edge of thevesseltop-contacting portion, and located midway circumferentiallythereon between the two securing lugs, to facilitate the manualapplication of the cover to and its removal from the top of the vessel,substantially as shown and described.

2. A service cover for a bottle, jar or other vessel, comprising, in asingle piece of suitable thin and flexible sheet metal, an annularvessel-top-contacting portion. an

lng rim portion, a raised portion within the annularvessel-top-contacting portion whereby an annular offset is provded'atthe junction of the two last named portions for the purpose of furtherstil'ening the cover, and

r10 a third lug` depending from the external annular stifl'ening rin;portionr` and loCated midway cirumferentially thereon between the twosecuring lugs, to facilitate the manual application of the cover to andits rennvnal from the top ot' the \i.-zsel, substantizlllyy :1sdescribed.

ln te tin|ony hereof I alix my signature to this specification in thepresence of two witnesses.

BLANCHE SMITH PIERCE.

Witnesses z JOHN G. EMERY, JOHN L. BAILEY.

